Running Home and Working like Crazy!

I have a lot to write this week and no more time than usual... Haha, imagine that. So I will get right into it!

Monday night Sister Malta and I held a family home evening with Luciana and her family. She lives in the farthest bairro (neighborhood) in Alfenas from our house. It takes about an hour to walk there. She always offers us a ride home after our visits. Only Monday night she wasn't feeling too great. We didn't want her to have to drive us home because she was feeling sick, so we declined the offer (you know when someone is just offering to be nice but really isn't feeling up to it). So we said our goodbyes and started down the street. The only problem was that it was nearly 9:00 and we have to be in our house by 9:30... Thus we walked until her house was out of sight, slipped off our shoes and then started to run. Haha, I am sure we were quite the sight to see. Two young women running down the cobble stone streets of Brazil in the dark, wearing skirts, shoes in hand and hair flowing in the wind. To make things better, the Sister Training Leaders had arrived that evening to go on splits with the other sisters in Alfenas the next day- of all nights for our plans to go awry! Haha, it was quite the adventure. I have to admit that running and laughing at the same time makes it a bit hard to breath ;) But we couldn't help but laugh at the craziness of it all. I am proud to say that we made it to our house with three minutes to spare. Sign me up for track when I get home. 

The week Sister Malta and I worked like crazy! We really wanted to meet all of the mission standards of Excellence (basically impossible because they are so high). So our week was jam packed. Our hard work payed off with two baptisms though! These baptisms really were miracles. First off- Luciana. I believe I already wrote about Luciana and her son Marcos. He is the young man that I contacted on the street and then he walked the hour to church by himself the next day- that never happens! So through him we were able to meet his mom and start teaching her. She is amazing. I love her so much! I swear that I knew her in the pre-existence. That is the only possible explanation here. She has been coming to church, but wasn't feeling ready to be baptized. We knew she was ready though, so we called in the Elders to give a baptismal interview and fasted and prayed like crazy. The night before we told her about the interview and that we would be holding a baptismal service that next night (her original baptismal date). She agreed to the interview without hesitation! The Elder said the the interview was amazing- she was basically just bearing her testimony for him! She was baptized Saturday night :) Ângela was our other baptism for the weekend. She was a miracle too. i met her late one evening when we were walking back to our house. She was sitting on the ground outside her house and looked pretty sad. I felt like I should talk with her, but I was tired and so I passed her by. The feeling came again and this time I listened to the spirit over my aching feet. I stopped Sister Malta and went back to talk to her. I shared a scripture with her, cheered her up a bit, got permission to come back and teach her another day and then continued on our way. When we sat down to plan though, i realized I had forgotten to write down her address. Great. All I knew was her name. Two weeks ago as we were walking to an appointment, I recognized her house! She happened to be home and so we were able to start teaching her. Two weeks later she was baptized! It is so amazing to be a part of this work! We see miracles every day. I have so much to learn and improve still. I am nowhere near the missionary that I want to be. Yet when I try my very best, and give the Lord my all, He makes up the difference. I saw that all too clearly this week- We worked like crazy and we were blessed with miracles. God really does love us. It is amazing to be a missionary and see Him work through us (as weak and imperfect as we are) to bless the lives of His children here in Brasil. 

Easter really wasn't much different than any other day for us missionaries. Our branch only even sang one Easter hymn! For Easter here everyone gets an Ovo de Páscoa (a giant chocolate Easter egg). they don't get an Easter basket or have an egg hunt, just the giant chocolate egg. The eggs are pretty expensive though, so we didn't buy one. I did have one Reese's pumpkin left from my Christmas package that I ate and pretended was an egg shape (haha... a Reese's pumpkin that I got for Christmas and ate for Easter... It was perfect!). I did buy nail polish and made cards for the other sisters in our house here though. I even managed to buy the polish and wrap everything in secret- quite the feat as a missionary! They all were super excited and it was fun to see them all receive an unexpected gift Easter morning. I think the best part of the day was the chance that it gave us to testify of our Savior, Jesus Christ. The holiday was the perfect conversation starter to share my testimony of the Atonement, Resurrection and Restoration. Three events that show God's boundless love for us. Goodness, how lucky are we to know about this gospel and to have the hope that this message about Christ brings? 

I love you all so much! I hope you had a wonderful Easter!

Love,

Sister Emma Maxwell

Almost Easter!!!

          I cannot believe that Easter is just a few days away! How in the world did that happen? It seems like Christmas was just yesterday. Today marks exactly 5 months as a missionary. Woo hoo! I still feel like I have so much to learn and improve. Good thing I ave more time here in Brasil. I miss you all like crazy, but I love being a missionary. The Lord definitely helps me focus on the work and not be homesick. 

           This week I am writing from Unifal- one of the universities here in Alfenas. We figured out this week that because it is a federal university it is open to the public- so we can use the computer lab for free! So today I get to use a nice computer in an air conditioned lab (it's actually a bit cold in here), with a functioning letter "g" and I don't have to pay anything! It is good all around. I do have to admit that it is kind of weird to walk around on a college campus right now. It makes me miss BYU. Haha, I want to go to class... The boys will probably make fun of me for that, but it's true. 

          I love that talk! I love how it is not just "it will all work out" but it is that "it will all work out in the end". So if things aren't working out, you know that it's not the end yet! I actually was thinking of that talk this week with some of the challenges that we had. Thaylor (also 14 yrs old) was set to be baptized this Saturday. He is a really fun kid. I have loved teaching him. He is a bit of a goofball, but really sweet and sincere. So we had everything set for the baptism and then he called only 3 hours before and said he didn't feel ready. He hung up on us after just a couple of minutes without really explaining. He doesn't have a phone and was using the cell phone of a friend so we couldn't get a hold of him that way. So we rushed over to his house only to find that he had left for the roça (countryside) for the weekend with his uncle. Needless to say, the baptism did not take place. That was really hard. We were both crushed. But, "everything will work out in the end". We were able to talk with him Sunday night and I think he was just nervous. He wants to keep learning and still has a desire to be baptized, so I have hope. I hope he will feel peace and have the courage to take this step. So next week hopefully you will be receiving some more baptism pictures. 

          One of our other investigators, Luciana (I think I have written about her before) has a baptismal date for this weekend too. She is absolutely amazing! I love her so much. She has such great faith. Every time we teach her a new principle or mandamento (commandment) she immediately puts it into practice. She has been coming to church steadily and is definitely prepared for baptism. The only problem is that she doesn't think that she is quite ready yet. I am praying so hard that we will be able to help her recognize the importance of baptism and that she really is ready. Her daughter, Ana Julia, has 8 years, but has the sass of a grown black woman. It is absolutely hilarious! She is so dang cute (probably drives her mom crazy, but in the small doses that we get it is perfect). Sunday night we stopped by to teach Luciana and the family. During the lesson Ana Julia slipped away into the kitchen. Then when we finished up she proudly walked into the room with two plates of little sandwiches that she had made herself. They were a bit messy and lopsided, but they were absolutely perfect. She set the plates on the table and declared that since her mom hadn't prepared anything for us to eat, she did it all herself! Haha, it was so cute. We are meeting them this afternoon for ice cream (Ana Julia has been talking nonstop about this the entire time we have been teaching them). You know you really love your investigators when you give up your time on p-day to visit with them and teach (ice cream is just an added bonus) 

          I love you all! I hope that you all have a wonderful Easter and take time to remember the real reason we have to celebrate- our Savior Jesus Christ! I am so very grateful for Him. Because of the Atonement, we have cause to celebrate and be happy every single day! 

Happy Easter!

Sister Emma Maxwell

So much JOY!

My dearest mother,

I am kind of excited to hear that my letters are slipping into português! That is pretty awesome. I am always in such a hurry to write that I know there must be tons of spelling errors, typos and now português mishaps! It still bugs the perfectionist in me, but writing everything I want to is more important than sending a perfect letter! Hopefully I'll pick up English quickly when I get back home so I don't flunk out of BYU ;) 

...And onto my adventures of the week!

This week one of the recent converts in my area had a birthday (she was before we came to the area though). She is an older lady and none of her family are members. I think she gets a bit lonely. We try to visit her every week to give her some company and keep her strong in the gospel. I wanted to do something for her birthday, but my budget is very limited and yes, my craft supplies are very limited. So I had to get really creative! I took one of the old jars that we use as a cup (our kitchen supplies are limited too... haha) and decided to make it into a little vase. So using borders and edges from the Liahona (you never realize the value of good pictures and patterned paper in the Liahona until you serve a mission...) I was able to decorate the jar and make a matching card. We then picked some wild flowers to fill the jar and delivered it to her. She was so excited to see us and to get the simple present. I think that was the only gift she received on her birthday. I am so grateful I have a crafty, creative Mom who taught me to serve and think of others! 

This week we also met with Marcos' father. I was super nervous for that lesson. Marcos had told us that his dad didn't support him getting baptized and that he worked for the police too. Because of his job, his schedule is really wacky and erratic. It is hard to catch him at home. One night when we were passing by, he happened to be there though. To ease my nerves (NOT) he had just returned from work. Nothing like a big burly Brazilian in a police uniform with a gun at his waist late in the evening to put you at ease! Haha, it ended up being a really good lesson though. It turns out that he is actually a very inactive member. He was one of the very first people here in Alfenas to join the church (about 20 years back). Thus he knew all about the church, Joseph Smith and the work that we missionaries do. Turns out he actually fully supports Marcos learning more about the church and getting baptized. When Marcos had talked with him earlier he had thought he was talking about a different church. So now we can not only help Marcos progress, but also have the challenge of reactivating his dad! Goodness there are so many little details lining up with this family- we also learned that the boyfriend of Marcos' mom (his parents are divorced) had requested a Book of Mormon online several months back. He moved soon after he requested it though, and so he never actually received it. We were all too happy to help him out and hand over a long awaited copy of the Book of Mormon. So now we are teaching him too! I really love this family. Seriously. They have the same sense of humor that we do! That is a rare thing. So for the first time in a long time, I can joke around like we do at home. It is nice to speak the language well enough to crack jokes too ;) I am so excited to see this family progress. They have a lot of challenges and I don't think it is going to be easy to get to baptism, but I know it is possible. Especially with the Lord on my side!

The other big news of this week is that Laudo went to the temple!!! Our ward had another caravan this weekend and so he was able to go down to Campinas and do Baptisms! He absolutely loved it- of course. I wanted so badly to go with him! Dang mission boundaries. But seeing and hearing him just talk about it was amazing. I love the temple so much. It is even better to help someone get there than to be able to go yourself. 

I love you all so much! I love being a missionary and serving the Lord! I hope you all have a wonderful week filled with much laughter, many miracles and the joy of the gospel!

Sister Emma Maxwell

Awesome Week of Lessons

          Today we mixed things up and went to the market before the LAN house to write. I don't think I will ever do that again... I was so distracted and anxious the whole time. Writing and hearing from you guys is definitely the highlight and priority. Forget groceries- e-mails from my mom are waiting! 

          The puppies were absolutely adorable! I wanted to take one home so badly. The mom died and so the family was giving them away for free. I haven't ever been so tempted to break a mission rule.  I stayed strong, obedient and petless though. The plenitude of dog poop on the sidewalks afterwards were a nice reassurance that I had made the right decision too. 

          Marcos, the 14 year old who walked to church, is doing well. He has a really complicated family situation with divorced parents and such. We were able to meet with his mom though and she is amazing! (She also makes a killer cake with goiabada- I am going to get the recipe and send it to you). She came to church this Sunday! But Marcos didn't... he stayed with his Dad. His Mom really liked church though. the Relief Society lesson was perfect for her- it moved her to tears! Haha, sometimes as a missionary it is good to make people cry. We are going to meet with her several times this week. I am hoping that in the next couple of weeks she and Marcos can be baptized together! 

          We also have had some progress with Laudo's wife. During the entire time we were teaching him before baptism she was very antagonistic and standoffish with us. This week I had the idea to take a copy of The Family- A Proclamation to the World to her. So Sister Malta and I prepped a killer lesson on this and made the trek to the outskirts of Alfenas where they live (I swear everyone with potential either lives really far or at the top of a crazy morro(hill)!) When we arrived Laudo happened to be home too- his work was cancelled due to rain. So he let us in right away (we were a bit worried she wouldn't let us in- so that was a miracle!) As we sat at the kitchen table just chatting with them we somehow found out that Luciana's father passed away just two years ago. It was obviously still a very tender topic for her. So in spite of our other plans, we moved into a lesson on the Plan of Salvation. We taught in perfect unison and the lesson flowed flawlessly. I don't think we would have taught that well, hitting exactly the points she needed- if we had planned and practiced to teach that lesson. I love it when the Lord takes over in lessons and all of our weaknesses melt away. It is the coolest thing ever. She had o travel this Sunday, but Laudo said she is anxious to come to church next week and wants us to come back!

          I had another really cool lesson this week. It was more of a learning experience for me. We were teaching the Restoration to a college student named Isabela. We teach this lesson so often that it is easy to fall into a pattern and say the exact same things every time. After I finished the first part of the lesson and Sister Malta was teaching, I realized what was happened. We were just being missionary robots. I decided then and there to change. I started praying to know what she needed specifically and started to really pay attention. When my part came, the words started to flow. Rather than moving on to the first vision as usual, I took the time to fully bear my testimony of the atonement. The change in the atmosphere was all too clear. the spirit filled the room and I could see a physical change in her. She was suddenly intently paying attention, cherishing every word. The  change in me was all too clear too. I stopped stumbling to find the right words in português ad just spoke. When the spirit takes over like that I could be speaking English it is so easy to say what I want! Haha, if only it was like that all of the time! Needless to say, it was an amazing experience. Lessons like these make all of the hard work worth it. We leave those lessons ready to climb the tallest hills and face the dark rainy evenings. 

          So on to some of your questions. We do still keep working in the rain and thunder. If we are lucky we can pass most of it in the houses of investigators teaching, but even if not, we keep on woking. My shoes are holding up pretty well. I doubt they'll make it through the whole mission, but they are good for now. They don't dry out totally in one day if it has been really rainy. I have a pair of plasticy flats that I bought here for 10 reals though. So I switch off wih my shoes. The flats make my feet hurt a bit, so I can't wear then everyday. 

          The picture of the ice cream cone I sent was half ice  cream half açai. So so good! We can only get those in Varginha though... another reason to love zone conferences! The cone is in fact coated with Nutella. Yes. It is basically heaven. Sister Malta also introduced me to brasilian churros this week. They fill their churros here! Sweetened condensed milk, nutella... it is super duper good.

Love you all!

Sister Emma Maxwell